Recipe: Vegan Jalapeno Mac ‘N’ “Cheese”

The best vegan mac 'n' cheese recipe around, in our opinion anyway. We use cashew nuts and delicious veg as the base with some cheeky jalapeños to amplify the flavour. Finish up by crisping the top of your dish up with breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast. It's ultimate comfort food.

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Ingredients

100 g cashew nuts

1 medium-sized white potato

250 g butternut squash

1 white onion

500 ml vegetable stock

2 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp paprika

1 pinch nutmeg

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

100 g jarred sliced jalapeno peppers

1 slice wholemeal bread

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

400 g macaroni pasta

Step 1

Soak The Nuts

Cover the cashew nuts in 400ml of boiling water in a bowl and leave to soak for an hour.

Step 2

Cook The Veg

Peel and roughly chop the potato, squash and onion then place into a saucepan with the stock.
Heat to a boil and cook for 15 minutes until the potato is cooked right through.

Step 3

Cook The Pasta

Heat a large pan of salted water to a rapid boil.
Add the macaroni to the pan, stir to make sure the pieces don’t stick together, heat back to a boil and cook for 8-9 minutes (1 minute less than the packet).

Step 4

Make The Sauce

Blend the stock with the cooked vegetables, soaked cashews, mustard powder, paprika, nutmeg and nutritional yeast to get a cheese sauce consistency.
Add a splash more hot water if required, this will vary depending on the size of the potato and how much stock evaporated as it cooked.
Stir in a tablespoon of the jalapeno vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 5

Bake And Serve

Drain the cooked macaroni and return to a hot pan with the sauce and chopped jalapenos then transfer to an ovenproof dish.
Blitz the wholemeal bread into a fine crumb with the olive oil and the second tablespoon of nutritional yeast.
Scatter over the Mac ‘n’ “Cheese” and bake in a preheated hot oven at 200℃ for 5-10 minutes until golden on top.
Serves 4